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Governor Phil Murphy pushed hard to impose a new tax on millionaires in New Jersey. But on Sunday he signed a budget bill into law without the tax, which kept the government open but dealt the governor’s progressive agenda a defeat.

The governor was pushing to increase the tax rate on income over $1 million from 8.97% to 10.75% as part of an overall spending plan for the state. Legislators balked at this tax increase, however, saying that the state already had an overly high tax burden. They removed the governor’s millionaire tax from the budget, and sent it to him for his signature. Gov. Murphy decided to sign the bill without his tax increase. Vetoing the bill would have shut down the state government.

Gov. Murphy is a Democrat and the state legislature is controlled by Democrats. However, the governor has pursued a more liberal agenda than many legislators are comfortable supporting. He has advocated legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, for instance, which failed. This millionaire tax was another proposal that went too far for Democratic lawmakers, and they dealt the governor another defeat on it.

The removal of the millionaire tax was noticed by President Trump, who tweeted his approval.

Do you think that there should be a special tax rate on income over $1 million?